ICON Aircraft Demos Historic Safety Achievement

ICON Aircraft announced earlier this year that it successfully completed spin-resistance testing of its A5 amphibious Light Sport Aircraft to the standard specified by the FAA for Part 23 certified aircraft. This historic achievement will make the A5 the first conventional production aircraft to be designed to and fully meet this standard once it enters production.

Spin resistance represents a dramatic safety advancement for light aircraft that can significantly reduce accidents that occur as a result of stall/spins. Stall/spins account for 41% of pilot-related fatalities and are the single greatest cause of pilot-related fatalities (2010 AOPA Nall Report). To visually demonstrate the profound effect a Spin-Resistant Airframe (SRA) can have in preventing stall/spin loss-of-control situations, ICON flew the A5 alongside a conventional "spin recoverable" aircraft and applied the same control inputs to both in an effort to initiate spins. ICON has produced a short educational video that includes the results of this demonstration: